Various systems exist for providing the public with alerts of information of interest, such as criminal activity (e.g., terrorist attack, child abduction, etc.), severe weather, natural disasters, and/or other events that have an impact on public safety. In the earlier days, these systems were typically designed to distribute alerts using broadcast media, such as television or radio. More recently, however, systems have been designed to distribute alerts to the public using wireless carrier networks. As one example, the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) has established the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) (also known as the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system), which facilitates the distribution of emergency alerts by a wireless carrier to their subscribers in the event of national emergencies (“Presidential Alerts”), emergencies such as extreme weather where life or property is at risk (“Imminent Threat Alerts”), and/or emergencies involving missing or endangered children (“AMBER Alerts”).
A typical wireless carrier network includes a number of base stations that radiate to define wireless coverage areas, such as cells and cell sectors, in which wireless communication devices (WCDs) can operate and engage in air-interface communication with the wireless carrier network. Each base station may then be coupled with equipment that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet for instance. Within this arrangement, a WCD operating in a coverage area of the wireless carrier network can thus engage in communication, via the wireless carrier network, with other WCDs operating in the wireless carrier and/or with various entities sitting outside the wireless carrier network, such as an alert provider.